Rollover crashes are one of the most significant safety problem for all classes of light vehicles especially light trucks (pickups, sport utility vehicles, and vans—LTVs). For 1992 through 1996, there was an average of approximately 227,000 rollover crashes per year. (Rollover crashes are ones in which rollover is the first harmful event.) These rollovers resulted in an average of 9,063 fatalities per year (29 percent of all light vehicle fatalities) and over 200,000 non-fatal injuries per year. In terms of fatalities per registered vehicle, rollovers are second only to frontal crashes in their level of severity. The rollover problem is more serious for light trucks, especially sport utility vehicles. State crash data indicates that, for all types of collisions, LTV's are in 68 percent as many crashes per registered vehicle as are passenger cars.
A major problem in rollover accidents is the release of fuel, which can trigger a fire and greatly increase the injury and fatality rate in rollover accidents. Thus, a goal of vehicle safety is to disable the fuel pump and engine when a rollover occurs as well as electrical sources of ignition such as the starter and electrical system. Disabling the starter and electrical system reduces the chances of igniting a fire if fuel escapes.
In the US alone and at the start of 2014, there exist approximately 241 million registered passenger vehicles without rollover safety. In 2014, it is expected that an additional 16 to 17 million more will be added to the tally. The present invention describes a rollover detection device effective for providing rollover safety to all vehicles having an electric fuel pump.
Any feature or combination of features described herein are included within the scope of the present invention provided that the features included in any such combination are not mutually inconsistent as will be apparent from the context, this specification, and the knowledge of one of ordinary skill in the art. Additional advantages and aspects of the present invention are apparent in the following detailed description and claims.